On Thursday after work and school, we finished packing and couldn't wait to get on the plane to get away from the cold, rainy weather. Harri was especially excited to see Chrish and his new puppy Tess, and was counting down the days all week.
We always joke that it's raining in Sydney whenever we come because it's actually pretty true, but we were so happy that we've arrived when there's a few days of lovely winter sun predicted. On our first day here we decided to make the most of the sunny weather and headed into the city on the train, to go to Taronga Zoo.
Uncle Chrish introduced the boys to the game Candy Crush. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not ;)
Once we were in the city we jumped on a ferry to get to the zoo. Harri started freaking out at first, thinking it was going to be rough like on Uncle Eden's boat. Once he realised that it wasn't going to be rough, he really started to enjoy it. 
It's always so beautiful on the harbour.
Because we arrived in Sydney very late the night before, we were really tired so we all slept in and didn't get to the zoo till late. Our plan was orginally to go to Luna Park, but when Jay broke his arm at school, we knew it wouldn't be any fun for him watching us go on rides, so we decided to go to the zoo instead. We only lasted a few hours before Jay's arm started really hurting him, but we had a lovely time.
The boys loved the seal show.
The boys loved it when the waves splashed up on us on the ferry on the way back.
Chrish always plays footy on the weekends, and the boys were excited to be able to watch him play. He was playing a long way from home, so we decided that on the way there we would stop off at Bondi Beach as I had never been there before, and always wanted to go. Jay reminded us that the last series of The Block All Stars was filmed in Bondi, so we found out the address of the houses and went and had a sticky beak. I didn't tell Harri that we were going to go there, so when Chrish pulled up outside them Harri kept asking where we were, and then he saw the houses and said 'The Block houses!' and was very excited.
It's always so strange to see the houses completed and know that there were months of TV crews and chaos happening on those streets, while the houses were being renovated.
We then loved spending some time in the sun on the beach. Bondi was even more beautiful than I imagined.
Kobe was the only one who was brave enough to have a splash in the water. He was worried about going in in his undies, but was okay when I told him he could wear his singlet so it would cover his undies. Luckily I did think about bringing a change of undies in case he wanted to get wet. 
We then went to watch Chrish play footy...or I should say Harri and Kobe did. The car was parked right behind the goals which meant I was able to sneak in a nanna nap in the car in the sun, while the boys watched Chrish play, while Jay had his eye on them.
We were looking forward to coming back to Chrish's place to hopefully watch the Hawks finally beat the Cats on TV, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. Harri is so much like Aaron and was so worked up during the game, and in tears at the end saying that he was missing Aaron. He always gets very emotional when there are big things on like a game that Aaron would've loved watching.The boys have a love/hate relationship with Chrish's dog, Tess. Harri and Kobe get nervous around her when she's excited and jumps up on them, but they are learning how to control her and love when they can get her to sit and listen to them. Poor Jay hates that his arm is broken as he can't be near Tess as he can't risk his arm being knocked. I'm still not at all convinced that getting a dog is what we should do, so it's good for the boys to spend some time around a dog, so they know what it's really like.
Thank you to everyone for your lovely comments, and support about my new job. It means a lot to me to know that so many people care. It's nice to be able to spend some of our school holidays with Chrish before I start my new job, and to get away from the cold weather in Tassie for a little bit. Everyone at home is talking about how much snow is around on the mountains, and how cold it is right now, so I'm grateful to have some lovely sunny days up here.
Dogs should be trained, from puppyhood not to jump on people. Even high energy dogs like labs and retrievers can easily be trained not to jump on people.
ReplyDeleteYou shouldn't let your decision on getting a dog be influenced by a poorly trained one.
Alana
What a beautifully awesome place you all live! Visiting there is on my "bucket list" - we can get together for coffee - or is it called tea? LOL
ReplyDeleteHope Jay's arm gets better soon. I would think that surgery could/would stabilize it or something to alleviate some of the pain. Poor guy!
How lovely that you all were able to have a nice holiday! My daughter is waiting for her mission call. We think it would be lovely if she were called to serve somewhere in Australia; we would really try to come pick her up afterwards! About Tess...she is a beautiful dog! We had an energetic labrador retriever, too, and they just LOVE people and LOVE attention, but like someone said in an earlier comment, they can be trained to not jump up on people. Once they know that it won't be allowed, they won't do it. We even had our dog trained to know that she wasn't allowed in the dining room or near the kitchen table when we were eating. My husband didn't want to have a dog begging at the table, and so we didn't. :-) I still miss our "girl" Macey, and seeing Tess makes me want to go get another Lab puppy RIGHT NOW! :-) I still vote for a DOG for your family (of course, easy for me to say, right? I don't have to train it, feed it, or pay for the veterinarian bills. But they're so worth it).
ReplyDeleteSomething that you should look into to properly train your dog, is training classes. Jay is old enough that he could attend the classes with you (as in not on the sidelines) or even attend himself. Look into training classes, either online, asking a vetrinarian or going to a trusted pet-supply store (avoid the "chain" or "brand name" supply stores as sadly many "instructors" are longtime staff that are given only basic training books...it's a terrible scam)
ReplyDeleteSeveral books exist Cesar Milan's book "A member of the Family" is quite good as it has an entire section on how to choose a dog that is right for yor family and also has tips on how to properly introduce your puppy to the family and set rules for both the dog and the whole family, and even tips on behaviours as the dog ages.. How to Raise the Perfect Dog is also a good book of his and only focuses on puppies.
People see that cute puppy face and think they just can't tell it "No" but then, that dog becomes one that jumps on people, bites, destroys property...dogs with bad behaviour have it because of their owners. The majority of animals left at shelters is because the owners couldn't be bothered to put aside some time to train their dog and then wonder why their dog is jumping on people, chewing furniture and barking at everything.
Dogs that are well trained are far happier and actually live longer and have a stronger bond with their owners.
Beautiful pictures. Your "winter" is probably better most times than our "summer" (in Germany). Your blog really makes me wanna go to Australia! I've learned a lot through your blog. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGlad you could get away and have some fun and a change in weather. We're having very hot and humid weather here. I always forget that you are in your winter season when we are in our summer season. The bridge that I see in some of your pictures reminds me of one of the bridges on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. And congratulations on your new job. Good for you, Lisa. You are an amazing woman and Mum. You should be very proud of how far you have come this past year, as difficult as it has been for all of you.
ReplyDeleteYour Jay looks so much like your brother that it is uncanny.
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